Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz writes that the media’s attempts to debunk claims of “death panels” in Health Policy proposals was “a stunning illustration of the traditional media’s impotence.”
He points out that journalists on all points of the political spectrum did report that the current proposals do not give the government the power to decide when people should die or when to cut off care to the elderly. He seems to blame part of the problem on news producers who ran an “endless loop” of footage from the loud confrontations at town hall meetings.
Kutz acknowledges that the media has been working to educate the public on the health care reform proposals, saying that “Those who say the media haven’t dug into the details aren’t looking very hard.”
